Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Sorted by date Results 2505 - 2529 of 10919
(JNS) — Holocaust denier and white supremacist Nick Fuentes announced Monday on his telegram channel that more than 1,000 students have signed up for a group dubbed “Students for Ye” within two weeks. Fuentes asserted that his efforts on behalf of the embattled hip hop mogul Ye (formerly Kanye West) were “all in service to Christ” and begged for others to “PUSH TO 2,000 WITH US.” The antisemitic activist described these initial followers as “the first believers in our grassroots movement to support a potential YE24 campaign.” To grow his movem...
(JTA) — George Santos’ first Chanukah party with the Republican Jewish Coalition was his last. The group said it will not host Santos at any future events after the congressman-elect lied to RJC officials and to the public about being Jewish and the descendant of people who escaped the Holocaust. Santos participated in an event with the group on the first night of Chanukah, Dec. 18, where he was feted as one of two incoming Jewish Republicans in Congress; he had been elected in New York’s 3rd Congressional District. The next day, the New York...
(JNS) — B’nai B’rith International condemned the U.N. General Assembly’s request that the International Court of Justice issue a legal opinion concerning Israeli policies on Palestinian-claimed territories. The referral was endorsed by a UNGA committee in November and has now been rubber stamped by the assembly’s plenary. “The UNGA—in which Palestinians enjoy an automatic majority, including the overwhelming share of nearly 60 Arab and Muslim governments—annually passes more condemnations of the Jewish state than all other 192 U.N. member sta...
Jewish Pavilion Program Director Cantor Nina Fine (center, standing) entertained seniors at Westminster, Lutheran Towers and Kinneret in downtown Orlando, during the Chanukah holidays. Special guest singer Shir Love, age 14, (standing far right) and pianist Dylan Caio, age 15, (standing second from right) brought their amazing talents to the delight of the residents. Volunteers Sandi Trainor, Ethel Helfant and Lora Schoenberg helped everyone get into the holiday spirit with singing, dancing,...
(JNS) - Concerned Israeli parents are complaining that their children aren't learning even the basics of Judaism in the country's public schools. Activists say the issue goes beyond a failure to teach, claiming that there's a concerted effort to replace Jewish content with progressive material, financed largely by foreign actors. Still in its early stages, the movement echoes the fight against "wokeism" in the United States, where parents battle school boards over what they see as left-wing...
Bank of Israel hikes interest rate to highest level since 2008 (JNS) — The Bank of Israel Monetary Committee has increased the country’s interest rate to 3.75 percent — representing a 0.5 percent rise, the central bank’s largest since 2008. “Inflation in Israel is 5.3 percent over the past 12 months,” the Bank of Israel stated, reported Globes. “Economic activity in Israel remains strong, but the growth rate appears to have slowed relative to the first half of 2022.” Since the Bank of Israel increased the rate from its all-time low of 0.1 perc...
(JNS) — Seven months ago, following years of aggressive cancer treatment for Hodgkin lymphoma, Ayelet Rosenberg, 35, gave birth to her fourth child, Yishai, making history as the first woman in the world to give birth to four children through cryopreservation of her eggs. The successful treatment was made possible by the innovative work of the Fertility Preservation Center at Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan. The experimental method performed by Prof. Dror Meirow, head of the center, i...
(JNS) - Hundreds of Jews aged 18 to 30 from the former Soviet Union, eager to join Masa Israel Journey's two-to-12-month study, service and career development programs, have been unable to do so for lack of funding. Taking up the challenge, the Jewish Agency for Israel announced that it raised an impressive $3 million in 24 hours. The money will be used in order to accept hundreds of Masa Israel applicants who were placed on a waiting list pending budgetary approval. The Jewish Agency turned to...
Jewish Family Services of Greater Orlando is pleased to announce it has been awarded a $50,000 grant from Heart of Florida United Way to continue supporting our Central Florida community, including ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) households. "Our local nonprofit agencies have been and will continue to work tirelessly to keep Central Floridians facing insurmountable challenges afloat," said Jeff Hayward, President and CEO of HFUW. "Given ALICE households are already one...
(JNS) - Israel's thirty-seventh government was sworn in on Thursday, the culmination of a weeks-long political process following the victory of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-religious bloc in the Nov. 1 national elections. Netanyahu, Israel's longest-ever serving leader, takes the reins for his sixth term in the Prime Minister's Office, to which he returns following a year-and-a-half hiatus. His Likud Party will lead a 64-member coalition in the 120-seat Knesset, that comprises the R...
Writer's Block Bookstore is partnering with The Roth Family JCC to host author Brad Meltzer at the Maitland Jewish Community Center auditorium for an in-person Q&A and signing on his latest book, "The Nazi Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill Roosevelt, Stalin, and Churchil," which he co-authored with Josh Mensch. This event will be held Sunday, Jan. 15, from 6:30 p.m.-8:30 p.m. Meltzer will be signing all backlist titles as well. General admission tickets are $30 and include a copy of the book a...
To study the history of most cultures, you need to learn about wars and empires, warriors and city builders, and great works of art. But the history of Judaism is overwhelmingly a history of books. Books form the core of Judaism’s culture. But even if they’re known as “the People of the Book,” much of Judaism’s classic literature remains closed to contemporary Jews. This month, local Chabad Centers will open Jewish literature to a contemporary audience. Jews of many affiliations and backgroun...
When the Roth Family JCC and the Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando joined together earlier this year to create Shalom Orlando, we did so with the knowledge that our community demanded better engagement opportunities, a stronger commitment to Jewish values, and for Shalom Orlando to step up and lead the future of Jewish life in Central Florida. That mandate requires us to take a step back, look at the white board and decide what we keep, what we sunset, and what we adapt. And by now we hope you realize that it is fun to build the future. If...
(JNS) — Prominent Christian pro-Israel organizations are speaking out against Ye (formerly known as Kanye West) after the rapper used Christianity to justify a months-long series of antisemitic statements. “Christians are mandated by God to stand with the Jewish people,” Pastor John Hagee, founder and chairman of Christians United for Israel (CUFI), told JNS. “One cannot be antisemitic and follow the teachings of Jesus.” Among many other antisemitic statements, Ye tweeted that he would go “death con 3” on Jewish people, accused Jews of givin...
As Benjamin Netanyahu made his dramatic return as Israel’s prime minister for a sixth term, Yair Lapid left the plenary hall without shaking his successor’s hand as per the custom. After being sworn-in, Netanyahu, who was interrupted by heckling, took the podium and chastized the Lapid-led opposition for lamenting “the end of democracy.” “This new government is determined to restore governance, peace, and personal security to the citizens of Israel.” “I hear the opposition eulogizing ‘the end of democracy.’ Members of the opposition, losing the...
(JNS) — U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday welcomed the swearing-in of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s new government. “I look forward to working with Prime Minister Netanyahu, who has been my friend for decades, to jointly address the many challenges and opportunities facing Israel and the Middle East region, including threats from Iran,” Biden said in a statement released by the White House. “The United States is working to promote a region that’s increasingly integrated, prosperous and secure, with benefits for all of its peop...
(JTA) — Jewish leaders in Italy had strong words for the president of the country’s parliament after he published a post on Instagram honoring the history of the Italian Social Movement, or MSI, a neo-fascist party founded in the wake of World War II. Ignazio la Russa, a senator from Cologno Monzese, a municipality in Milan, wrote alongside a picture of an MSI campaign poster: “In memory of my father, who was one of the founders of the Italian Social Movement in Sicily and who chose the path of free and democratic participation with the MSI t...
(JNS) - An ancient Jerusalem pool that was used by millions of Jewish pilgrims during the time of the Second Temple two millennia ago as a ritual bath before ascending the Temple Mount, and revered by Christians as the site where Jesus cured a blind man, will be fully excavated and then opened to the public, the Israel Antiquities Authority announced on Tuesday. The Pool of Siloam, located in the southern portion of the City of David, the ancient epicenter of Jerusalem, and just outside the Old...
(JNS) - Israel inducted a historic right-wing government Thursday, led by three-time Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Netanyahu's return to power and the formation of a strong right-wing government is a tremendous achievement for a nation that has increasingly turned towards the right-wing values of strong security and protecting the Jewish character of the state. The 64-member Likud-led coalition, joined by Netanyahu's loyal right-wing and religious allies, puts to bed years of electoral...
Knesset passes ‘Smotrich-Deri’ amendment (JNS) — Israel’s Knesset on Tuesday morning passed an amendment allowing Shas Party head Aryeh Deri to serve as a minister and Religious Zionism leader Bezalel Smotrich to become a second minister in the Defense Ministry. The amendment to Basic Law: The Government, which passed by a 63-vote majority following an all-night filibuster, merged two bills. The first limits a law prohibiting elected officials convicted of a criminal offense from serving as a minister to apply only to those serving active...
(JNS) - Rabbi Mendy and Rivky Hertzel will move to Zambia early next year to establish a Chabad House and assist the small but thriving Jewish community in the southern African nation. Zambia has not had a rabbi in over 60 years. Rabbi Hertzel told JNS, "In February of this year, they tasked me to go to Zambia and investigate the possibility of establishing a permanent Chabad presence here. After a three-month stay, I saw firsthand that the country was a good fit for us to establish a Chabad...
(JNS) - It's been a difficult decade. 2020 was the year of coronavirus-pandemic panic and the general collapse of established norms. This was compounded by the Black Lives Matter riots that set off a moral panic about race, with the mainstreaming of fringe ideas and intersectionality. 2021 was a little better, as the world gradually shook off its COVID paranoia. But it was notable mainly for the Jan. 6 Capitol riot that has roiled American politics ever since, the disastrous withdrawal from...
(JTA) — Yes, Lionel Messi will forever be the face of Argentina’s long-awaited World Cup championship on Sunday. But the voice of the victory belongs to the Argentinean Jewish sportscaster who cried as he announced the win. Andres Cantor, a prominent soccer announcer, responded to Argentina’s game-winning penalty shot with his signature elongated “Gooooooool!” In a video clip that has gone viral, Cantor can be seen grabbing onto his broadcast partner as he yells “Argentina, campeon de mundo!...
This year, as in the previous 44 years, Jewish Family Services of Greater Orlando is proud to have worked together with the community to make an impact on the lives of those in need, especially as hardships continue to grow. From fighting hunger and homelessness to addressing mental health needs JFS Orlando is always there if you need help or if you want to help. As you prepare for the countdown to 2023, join us in counting down the ways JFS Orlando has made an impact in the community this year so far and how your 2022 year-end gift can still...
Chanukah with the Jewish Pavilion was extra special at Brookdale Lake Orienta this year. The Jewish Chamber of Commerce partnered with the Pavilion and provided a top-notch party complete with candle lighting, latkes, doughnuts and chocolate gelt. The best part was the fabulous pianist Michael Kramer who provided superb entertainment. More than a dozen Jewish Chamber members interacted with seniors. They brought gifts and food and danced with their elders....
